‘It’s none of your business anyway, you nosy parkers,’ she found herself saying repeatedly.
One late afternoon as the nights began to draw in and autumn leaves carpeted the grounds of the nursing home, Madge was told by one of the hospital juniors that there was a telephone call for her.
‘Thank you,’ said Madge. ‘Do you know who it is?’
‘Sorry, Nurse Graves, but I wasn’t told.’
It was such an awful connection that Madge didn’t realise it was Basil until his voice suddenly came through loud and clear saying that he was in Singapore after leaving Labuan. Madge was so surprised that she could barely speak.
‘I’ve no idea when I’m coming home, but the sooner the better because I’m missing you so much,’ said Basil. ‘I’m longing for the day when we can be together again.’ He added that when he got an embarkation date he would let everyone know. Infuriatingly, before Madge could even ask how he was, the line crackled and cut out, much as it had done when he got through to the hospital in Chittagong to wish her a very happy birthday.
Because of the time difference it was already almost midnight in Singapore, but Basil sat down to write Madge a long letter to bring her up to date:
As I mentioned in our phone call, I have now returned to Singapore and the contrast between sitting in a tent eating British Army bully beef and beans for lunch on the war-torn beach of Labuan in place of having the most delicious roast served from a silver trolley in Raffles Hotel was remarkable.
The fact that I have had lunch in the most famous hotel in the Orient with two of my brothers was an absolute treat. We were so determined to make up for lost time that each ordered a Singapore Sling to start the proceedings. I hadn’t seen Bill since 1942 and it had been almost two years since I had last met Brian at a Movements unit on the Brahmaputra River. He’s here on Troops Movement business as well. Bill didn’t really say why he’s in Singapore other than that he’s been posted to the Allied Land Forces to help investigate Japanese war crimes. These organisations had major problems because of lack of staff and though there were almost 9,000 suspects under arrest fewer than 1,000 had been charged. Can you believe it?
I suppose this is as good a time as any to fill you in on a little of the family background. I loved the story about when you first met Bill and he has asked me to send his best regards ‘to the lovely Madge’. I would have been surprised if he had mentioned his wartime adventures or anything about the head injury he suffered so here goes. Bill joined the TA in 1938 and enlisted for war service with the Royal Artillery in 1939. He was posted to northwest Europe on 6 June 1944 and in January 1945 suffered a shrapnel wound to the head, which resulted in him being evacuated from a casualty clearing station to Basingstoke Hospital, where he spent weeks recovering. Bill was promoted from lieutenant to captain and then major before being posted here to Singapore in October.
Lunch at Raffles wasn’t exactly the time or the place to discuss war crimes and we didn’t talk about Bill’s injury, because we had so much to catch up on. Those Singapore Slings certainly helped! A very jolly waiter with a turban and rather splendid moustache told us that when the Japanese invaded Singapore the staff at Raffles had already buried the silver, including a beef trolley, and he pointed it out. He also claimed that when the Japanese marched into the hotel they found guests enjoying one last waltz. After three Singapore Slings each it almost sounded plausible!
At the end of a rather splendid afternoon we raised our glasses in an emotional toast to the family and absent friends. It made me yearn to be with you all the more.
Love,
Basil
It was November when Madge received the letter and the first thing she thought when she read it during a break at the maternity home was how marvellous it would be if Basil managed to get home for Christmas. Her mind ran riot for a moment wondering whether they would spend it with his family or with Mum and the girls, before she returned to the wards.
In fact, a few days later Basil’s hopes of making it back to dear old Blighty in time for the festivities were given a huge boost when he received a message that he knew would be confirmation of his repatriation from the Far East. Others had received similar letters the week before. Basil opened it with a pounding heart to discover that he been given a berth on board the RMS Andes, but the embarkation date was not until 17 December 1946 so that put an end to dreams of a Christmas reunion. Try as he might, he could not get another phone call through to the maternity home where Madge was living or to his mum and dad in Woking. There was a small chance a letter might get through before he arrived home so he dashed a note off.
Coming home via the Suez Canal, RMS Andes created a new record for a sea journey between Singapore and Southampton of just sixteen days, fifteen hours and thirty-one minutes. From the moment it left to the time it pulled into the famous old Channel port, the Andes maintained an average speed of 21.66 knots and broke the previous best by almost three days.
All aboard the Andes expected their journey to take almost a week longer and for Basil it was the most wonderful boost because throughout the journey he was counting down the days until he could be reunited with his mum and dad and hold Madge in his arms again.
27
Wedding Bells
Basil could hardly bear
